Even as Western allies struggle to counter Russia’s attack on Ukraine, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warns that they must also take a cautious and unified approach to scrutinizing China and its business practices.
By FATIMA HUSSEIN and SAMUEL PETREKEN Associated Press
17 May 2022, 14:43
• 3 minutes reading
Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Email this article
BRUSSELS – Even as Western allies struggle to counter Russia’s attack on Ukraine, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned on Tuesday that they must also take a cautious and united approach to scrutinizing China and its business. practices.
“We have a common interest in encouraging China to refrain from economic practices that put us all at a disadvantage,” Yellen told the Brussels Economic Forum.
“These practices range from those affecting trade and investment, to development and climate policies, to approaches to providing debt relief to countries facing unsustainable debt burdens,” she added.
Yellen was in Brussels before the meeting of the finance ministers of the leading economies of the Group of Seven in Bonn, Germany.
She also met on Tuesday with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Yellen said they discussed “critical issues related to energy security, Ukraine’s economic needs and ongoing coordination to impose sanctions on Russia.”
Yellen spoke in detail about Chinese financial practices in Africa, where there is a huge influx of Chinese investment. She recently called on China to explicitly end its relations with Russia.
“We have a set of common vulnerabilities that we have to deal with,” Yellen told his European audience.
“And China is more likely to respond favorably if it can’t play one of us against the other,” she said. “The Biden administration believes that this kind of cooperation will be more effective than the one-sidedness we saw in ‘not too much’ – a distant past.”
Yellen’s visit to Europe – she spent some time in Poland before stopping in Brussels – aims to deal with the aftermath of the war in Ukraine, an international tax plan she negotiated with more than 130 countries last year and the energy crisis. contributed to high inflation worldwide.
Rising war costs are a concern for G7 finance ministers.
She said that despite funding efforts from the United States and its European allies, “what is clear is that the bilateral and multilateral support announced so far will not be enough to meet Ukraine’s needs, even in the short term. “.
She called on the partner countries “to join us in increasing their financial support for Ukraine”.
Yellen also spoke about the need to impose a minimum global tax of 15% on multinational corporations. It aims to deter global companies from hiding profits in countries where they pay little or no taxes.
“This agreement will stop the decade-long race to the bottom of corporate taxation around the world – a competition that has failed,” she said.
On Monday, Yellen met with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to tighten sanctions against Russia and insisted on participating in the tax deal that Poland has blocked so far.
He received final approval at a meeting of the Group of 20 economies last October, but Polish officials questioned whether the tax would really apply to online giants and insisted it was.
———
Hussein reported from Washington.
Add Comment